Keeper of the lists
by mintythefox
Summary: It wasn't easy, her job, she'd had it for years and years- longer back than she could remember (maybe more than anyone could remember). The memories of before were too fuzzy. Everything else came after. By "everything else" she meant lots and lots of names. (also posted on Wattpad. And, yes, another weird oneshot/drabble thingy)


**AN: Not entirely sure what this is but anyway, here you go. It's a nowhere boys fanfic but it's got so many other fandom references that I'm not really sure anymore (see how many you can spot?) I should probably mention that I own NONE of the recognisable characters in this and gain no profit from writing it. (Also, I have no idea who the main character is).**

**Enjoy? :)**

It wasn't easy, her job, she'd had it for years and years- longer back than she could remember (maybe more than anyone could remember). She knew she'd had a mother, and a father, and maybe a brother or sister as well but the memories were too fuzzy, too long ago to recall. All she really had was a voice saying "I've got a job for you" and then that was it. Everything else came after.

By "everything else" she meant a lot of things. Storms, rain, tsunamis, earthquakes, raging forest fires, and lightning that singed the earth itself. Huge, towering waves and hurricanes whipping against the face of the earth, tearing and ripping and shredding everything in its path, molten rock called lava burning its way down the slopes of volcanoes, beautiful but terrifying enough to scorch your face off.

She knew animals too; birds and bats with their wings that could send them soaring through the skies above the clouds almost weaving their way in and out of reality, creatures like rabbits or foxes or moles that burrowed down deep beneath the earth where everything was dark and wet, fish and whales and sharks that swam in the sea- slimy and fluid and amazing. There were very few creatures that made their homes in fire (although the glowing, flickering fireflies were extremely beautiful to watch).

Then there were humans. The things she had to know, had to keep a record of. Lists and lists and lists, all filled with names. Names and faces and lists. That was what "everything else" mostly consisted of.

It was very rare for humans to be born with the potential for magic, even rarer for them to pursue it. She had to keep records. Who had which element, mostly.

It was quite difficult to guess usually. She had four long lists and sometimes names would pop up more than once on each, often with a question mark next to them. There were black marks from where some where hastily scribbled out, too. Magic users would often jump from one list to another until she'd finally decided which one they belonged in.

Some she never had. The great warlock, Merlin, for example, frequently jumped from "Water" to "Earth" to "Air" and back again. A teenage boy who'd died in the 1900's still skipped between "Water" and "Air" (she'd never really known which would suit him best). A child named Rue who had yet to be born flickered between "Air" and "Earth", while her friend, Katniss, stayed firmly in the "Fire" list.

There were lots in the Fire list (as there were in all the others), at least two hadn't even been born yet, Tris and Merida and Jace and Dustfinger and a victorian girl named Hetty (although, like Jace, the name seemed to change frequently). There was a viking called Hiccup in the Air list, a Percy (Perseus, really) in the Water list (she'd wondered about placing a young witch named Hermione there as well), a girl called Rapunzel (of all things) it the Earth list.

Just because certain people were in certain lists it didn't mean that they had the same personality. Oh no, this was what made the element so hard to determine. Because, just like the way water can both save and take a life, so could these people. You could have someone in the Fire list who was angry and raging and vengeful but you could also have a warm, flickering, glowing soul, who was the kindest, brightest person you may ever meet. As she had thought before, her job was not easy. But it was necessary.

And it was brilliant. Over the years, the weeks and days and centuries, she had heard some of the most amazing and terrifying stories. Ones that showed such bravery or defiance, ones of awe, ones of tradgedy. Just a few of the stories that those names held could keep people occupied for centuries.

The most recent one that had caught her interest was set in Australia, in a small town called Bremin. It was quite an odd one (and, yes, maybe she was used to that- were stories ever anything else? especially when magic is involved) set in two worlds instead of one. There were four, maybe five, boys at its centre.

She hadn't needed to work out which list of elements, Felix had already done that for her. Jake, Earth, Andy, Water, Sam, Air, and finally, scribbled hastily in his books of shadows "I am fire?". She'd added them to the lists, nodding.

The last name was more interesting, however. As their friend Phoebe had put it, there were four worldly elements and then a fifth one: Spirit (although few people really bothered to remember that one). The list for this one was relatively small, a scattering of names and smudges and the odd question mark.

Oscar Ferne fitted comfortably at the bottom of it.

(She would've watched the boys for longer but a sudden storm in the east drew her attention away not long afterwards).


End file.
